Asian Shares Mostly Subdued as Investors Wait for Clear Signal

By Investors Hub

Asian markets were mostly subdued on Friday as investors once again refrained from making significant moves, choosing to wait for a clear signal.

There were some positive economic data from the region, but trading was thin once again as the U.S. markets, which were closed on Thursday, will have just a short trading session today.

Chinese stocks rebounded a bit, erasing some of the losses posted in the previous session. After a solid start, the market tumbled but recovered swiftly and held in positive territory until the end of the session. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 158.38 points or 0.5 percent to 29,866.32.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index moved in a very narrow range around the unchanged line before closing up 1.90 points or 0.1 percent at 3,353.82.

Japanese stocks recovered after initial weakness and edged up to close marginally higher. The Nikkei 225 Index settled at 22,550.85, gaining 22.70 points or 0.1 percent.

While stocks from the automobile and manufacturing sectors were largely weak, some buying was witnessed in the technology space.

Mitsubishi Materials plunged more than 8 percent following an announcement from the company that some of its units falsified product data to meet requirements.

In economic news, Japanese manufacturing activity expanded at the strongest pace in more than three-and-a-half years in November, data released by IHS Markit showed. The flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed to a 44-month high of 53.8 in November from 52.8 in October.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Australian indices ended virtually unchanged. The S&P/ASX 200 Index edged down 0.1 percent to 5,982.55 and the broader All Ordinaries index ended 4.40 points lower at 6,063.10.